


Feel the happiness

by AiraKT



Series: The Witches Descendants [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Blushing Kenma, Empath, Falling In Love, First Dates, Fluff, Getting Together, Honestly you'll drown, M/M, Mentions of Sex, just so much fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-18 18:49:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8172100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AiraKT/pseuds/AiraKT
Summary: Kenma Kozume is an empath, someone who can feel other people's emotions if he wants to or not. An empath who gets regular visits by a certain, good looking man, for several weeks now.





	

**Author's Note:**

> It had to be a KuroKen story, because I love the two of them just so much.  
> Also the magic part played a way less prominet role than I originally planned ^^'
> 
> This is not beta-ed, and I'm tired, so there'll probably be a tons of mistakes. You can keep them :3 (Or tell me in the comments, so I can correct everything /w\\)
> 
> I hope you enjoy this :)

People always thought Kenma was lazy. They were wrong. Well, not entirely, Kenma definitely preferred _not_ to do things if he had a choice, but he always would do necessary stuff. And since his study had to be paid somehow he was currently wearing something akin to a butler uniform and politely bowing to two giggling girls.

“Welcome home, Mistresses. Would you allow me to guide you to your table?”

A mix of embarrassment, happiness and excitement waft over to Kenma, trying to stir his core, but he was way too used to it to be influenced by such shallow emotions.

After he had taken care of his two new customers, his attention was caught by some kind of uneasiness scratching on his mind – impatience. A small glance was enough to find the source. “Is the order for table six ready?” he asked upon entering the kitchen.

The cook – or rather coffee and dessert maker, it wasn’t much cooking –, a young guy with dark hair and freckles all over his face, looked up. “Eh? I wanted to finish the crêpes first,” he started to argue, but then he saw Kenma’s expression. “But if you say so I quickly prepare the order for table six.”

With a wordless nod Kenma disappeared to the front again. His coworkers already knew that Kenma had some kind of intuition for knowing which customer to serve first, so that no one got displeased or even angry.

Kenma would be really happy if it just would be his intuition. He actually didn’t know how to call it, since it wasn’t something common among normal people, and talking about it wasn’t really an option most of the time. Shouyou always called him an empath, and maybe this was the most accurate description, although his mother always argued that this wasn’t all there was to it – his witch mother. It was due to her blood that he had this power.

Witches could only bequeath their power to female descendants. Sons, like him and Shouyou, only got a really small portion of magic, and only in rare occasions. He was ‘lucky’ as his mother always had told him. If it were up to him he would happily relinquish of this to live a normal life.

The chiming of the doorbell pulled him out of his reverie, and after a small glance he saw that Akaashi was already busy, so Kenma approached the door. He instinctively bowed. “Welcome home, Master and Mistress, would you allow me to guide you to your table?”

When he straightened again he really took the appearance of his two guests in, and he had to suppress a curse. Behind the girl a young man walked in, probably roughly the same age as Kenma himself, relatively tall, with broad shoulders and well-built. He had ravenous black hair, which stood towards every angle, but instead of looking messy it was kind of charming. The most mesmerizing thing about him were his eyes, though, clear and caramel colored, carrying a mischievous glint behind the smile he was wearing.

Kenma’s problem wasn’t that there was a guy he had to serve. They sometimes had male customers, although they were most often in the company of women. The problem was that this guys was absolutely _hot_ and exactly Kenma’s type – and the girl with him was downright _gorgeous_.

She was really tall as well – taller than Kenma, but not as tall as the black-haired guy – and had a slender figure, long, lightish blond hair that nearly seemed silver, and big eyes with shining green irises.

The duo was really a sight for sore eyes, and more than one head turned around while Kenma brought them to a free table. He was definitely relieved when he could leave them to look at the menu.

Normally they wouldn’t have been his problem anymore, since they were sitting in Akaashi’s area. Apparently “normally” didn’t apply today, though. “I’m taking a short break, Kenma,” Akaashi told him as they passed each other. “Will you manage on your own for a few minutes?”

Despite everything Kenma wanted to reply in that moment he muttered a simple “Sure” and got back to work. 

A few minutes later he stood at the attractive guy’s table again, ready to take their order. The man pointedly looked at the woman, who gave the menu another glance over. “Hmm… I’ll take a crêpe with strawberries and a Latte.”

“I’ll just take a Cappuccino,” the raven added, handing him the menus. When Kenma wanted to take them the man didn’t let go, forcing him to let their eyes meet. “And a smile, please.”

Kenma wasn’t quite sure what made him freeze – the confident tone in which he was addressed, the crooked smile he was bestowed with or the pure curiosity mixed with the willingness to flirt coming of the raven.

Anyway, he said his usual sentences as he went back to the kitchen and tried not to think too hard about the guy. Tried.

Actually it wasn’t that unusual that customers started to flirt with the waiters, though normally they picked Akaashi, Sugawara or Yahaba and not him. And though normally it weren’t guys – drop-dead gorgeous guys on top of that.

It only took Kenma a few minutes to go back to the table with their order. Way too little minutes, he might add, in which he thought about maybe – really, _really_ maybe – fulfilling the raven’s wish. With a “Please enjoy, Mistress and Master,” he placed the plate and the cups on the table.

He didn’t plan on adding anything, as he already started to leave again, but of course the raven held him back. “Didn’t you forget something?” he asked with that crooked smile of his.

Kenma probably should have expected that and he actually had, but he still was at a loss of words there, which was extremely unusual in itself. Nonetheless he opened his mouth, probably to say something sarcastic and terribly inappropriate in his position, but the girl was faster than him.

“You shouldn’t harass the poor waiter, Kuroo,” she chided with an amused smile. That was another thing completely confusing Kenma – the girl’s amusement. She wasn’t angry or annoyed that her company was flirting with someone else. Their relationship probably wasn’t of romantic nature, although Kenma never could be as certain as Shouyou about that.

It was the ability of his ginger friend to sense the relationship between people, after all.

“You think I make him feel embarrassed?” the guy – apparently called Kuroo – replied to the girl.

She snorted. “I think he simply doesn’t like you, but can’t say it, because you won’t tip him then.”

“Ouch that hurt.”

The girl’s quick-wittedness nearly made Kenma laugh, but he was able to hold himself back. Instead he bowed a little. “I hope you enjoy your stay here and consider coming back in the future, Mistress and Master.” As he righted himself up again the tiniest of smiles showed on his lips, and he quickly disappeared into the kitchen.

His heart racing and his cheeks blushing due to embarrassment, Kenma borrowed his face inside his hands. Did he really just do that? It might not seem like much, but for him, who was basically anti-sociality in person and hated simply _talking_ with strangers, it was definitely an extremely rare occurrence.

He could still feel the surprise and even stronger amusement than before coming from the other side of the door. The surprise quickly turned into joy and a kind of satisfaction, and Kenma smiled a little to himself. Maybe it had been the right thing to do and hadn’t seemed as awkward as he thought.

Thankfully – and sadly – Kenma hadn’t to deal with the duo anymore, since Akaashi finished his break a few minutes later and took care for his area again.

 The rest of his day went by normally, meaning agonizingly slow and boring. He served his customers, recited his sentences and collected his tips. It was even nearly possible to forget about the appearance of a way too attractive guy that randomly started flirting with him in the presence of his female company. Nearly. If he didn’t replay the scene inside his head again and again, scourging himself for not responding better.

But there was absolutely no use thinking about that right now, since he probably wouldn’t see him ever again.

He was in the employee room, changing out of his uniform and _still_ trying to get the raven out of his head, as Akaashi found him. “Ah, Kenma, good that you’re still here,” he said to him and started to search for something in his apron picked. “There was this customer who wanted me to give this to you, and I nearly forgot it. He was tall and had black hair, and a blonde girl was sitting with him. Do you know who I mean?”

Slowly Kenma took the bill from Akaashi, immediately noticing the small numbers scribbled on the back. Of course he knew who Akaashi was talking about.

Dammit.

\---

Kenma was tired when he came home this evening, even more so than normally. So it was only natural that he groaned a little when he noticed that Shouyou was already there.

Not that he didn’t like him – he actually liked him a lot. Enough to have moved into a shared apartment with him, right after graduating from high school. During all of their years as friends there even had been a time in which Kenma had had a crush on his ginger friend – an unrequited crush, as Shouyou had made clear in their second high school year. Not that he had to say it, since Kenma had known it anyway. After a bit time of suffering he had decided that his friendship with Shouyou was too important to him to continue his stupid pining, so he started to see him as a simple friend again – after all the ginger was the only one who could ever really understand him.

But despite all the affection he felt for Shouyou he had a major problem with him – he was loud and incredibly exhausting at times. Everything Kenma did not need right now.

He still called “I’m back” into the hallway to announce his arrival, immediately receiving an answer.

“Welcome home!” Shouyou called happily back, basically skipping out of the kitchen. His eyes seemed to shine in excitement, and he practically shoved that feeling into Kenma’s face. “I’ve made a new cake after the recipe of my mom, you _have_ to try it.”

During his teenage years Kenma had never expected Shouyou of all people to take a liking to baking, but here he was, getting a new cake at least twice a week. It was every time astonishing how calm and contend Shouyou always got, which always calmed down Kenma too, so he was actually thankful with that.

“I’ll try it later,” he reassured Shouyou, as he passed him on the way to his room. He only wanted to take a shower right now, hopefully washing away the thoughts from the day.

But Shouyou was quickly in front of him again – how the hell was he so fast? –, and was looking at him worriedly. “Something happened.” It was a statement and not a question, and it made Kenma question not for the first time if it was really him who could feel emotions, and not Shouyou.

A sigh left his lips. “Just some exhausting customers, that’s all.” It wasn’t even a lie – not that he had a problem with lying when it helped him having some calmness.

Shouyou hummed, signaling his understanding, and thankfully left it at that. Without another word he turned around to go to the kitchen again, probably fixing a few more things on his cake, and Kenma could finally go to the bathroom and take a hot shower, which managed to wash all thoughts of a certain raven away.

\---

But although Kenma managed to put this weird customer out of his mind – well, he only thought very rarely of him by now, the number neatly put away in one of his desk drawers – it was impossible to forget him completely. The raven himself made sure of that.

As Kenma was standing next to the table where the strange customer – Kuroo – was sitting for the fifth time in four weeks already, and he couldn’t hold himself back any longer. So he dropped the act of a good butler and looked at the raven with a raised eyebrow. “Won’t your girlfriend be mad if you come here on your own every week?”

“Girlfriend?” Kuroo tilted his head in honest confusion and started to think. Then he seemed to remember, and amusement oozed out of him. “You mean Alisa? The blonde girl? Lev would probably kill me if I really went out with her. No, I just owed her a favor, so she dragged me to go shopping with her.”

Kenma could feel that the raven was absolutely honest with him, so he didn’t take a second to believe him. Before he could respond with anything he noticed Kuroo’s smirk. “What?” Kenma asked a little annoyed.

“If that’s out of the way we can proceed to the next step, can’t we?”

“Next step?” Kenma needed a moment to understand what the flirtatious feeling coming from Kuroo meant, but when he did he had to fight down a blush. Quickly he took his role as butler again. “I’m very sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about, Master. Can I get you something?”

The raven sighed in defeat, and Kenma could feel the small disappointing sting, but he immediately looked at him with a smile again. “The usual,” Kuroo ordered, and of course Kenma immediately knew what he was talking about. A cappuccino and a smile.

Like every time Kenma already started to struggle with himself, trying to overcome his shadow to bring himself to really deliver a smile this time, as the raven held him back once more.

“Say, uhm…” Caramel-colored eyes looked him up and down, apparently searching for a nametag. 

“Kenma,” the blonde provided, offering his first name without hesitation.

Kuroo smiled at him, and a wave of satisfaction left him. “Kenma,” he repeated, as if to test it on his tongue, and it sounded strangely good to Kenma. It certainly was only due to the pleasant voice Kuroo had.

The raven continued talking, “Did your colleague pass you the note I gave him?”

Kenma immediately understood, so he nodded.

“Then you still have my number?”

This time Kenma couldn’t fight the blush, which spread on his cheeks. Yes, he had the number, he couldn’t bring himself to throw it away. And yes, he understood the implications of that.

Apparently Kuroo also understood without him saying anything. His lips stretched into a smile. “I’ll take your adorable blush as a ‘Yes’,” he commented, which only lead to the darkening of mentioned blush. “And I’ll also take it that you’re still thinking about using it. It’s ok, take your time. I’m patient.”

And again the raven absolutely meant what he said, which – strangely – immensely pleased the blond. Not that he did say anything.

“I’ll be right back with your order, Master,” Kenma quickly said, making his way to the kitchen. Satisfaction followed his every step, but he didn’t dare to turn around or stop until he stepped through the door. Only then he allowed himself to release his breath with a shudder.

This was not good. This was not good at all.

\---

Of course this encounter was in his mind for several days, and he really felt silly thinking so much about it, although so little actually happened. He just wasn’t used to someone being this genuinely interested in him.

Not that Kuroo was the first guy to flirt with him. But it had felt… different somehow. Pleasant.

And really distracted, he noticed again, a sigh leaving his lungs. He quickly forced his attention back to the food in front of him. And to whatever Shouyou was talking about.

“So I had to go all the way to his bureau again to remind him of the mail,” the ginger sighed in that moment.

Kenma hummed to show his – admittedly not completely present – attention.

Thankfully Shouyou didn’t seem to notice and continued to ramble on, “I just don’t understand why it is so hard to write one mail with the information I need. I mean, I can’t work like this! And even if he is a professor, he can’t have _that_  little time. And now… I have to go.”

“Huh?” Surprised Kenma looked up. Shouyou hadn’t even eaten half of his lunch, and normally he never left food. On top of that he was strangely amused. Kenma frowned. “Where are you going?”

“I- uh- I have to meet with Kageyama.”

Even without his ability Kenma would have recognized his lie. What he also noticed was Shouyou’s gaze, which seemed fixated on something behind Kenma, probably a person, judging the happy excitement approaching him.

Of course Kenma’s curiosity was way too big to not turn around, and he couldn’t help but mutter a small “Oh” when he saw the source of all the happiness.

“Kenma,” a smooth voice called, and the raven stopped next to his chair.

A small frown showed on Kenma’s face. “Hello Kuroo,” he greeted nonetheless.

Kuroo smiled, obviously pleased that the blond still remembered his name. “What a coincidence that we’re studying at the same university.”

“Coincidence?” Kenma repeated slowly, turning around to face his strange customer. “You’re not following me, are you?”

“Following? What? No, no, no, it’s _really_ a coincidence. Scout’s honor!”

Of course Kenma had believed that from the beginning, but it was rally amusing to see the normally cool raven to lose his composure a little, as he tried to convince Kenma of his honesty, so he couldn’t help but smile.

When Kuroo saw this and recognized it at what it was he immediately calmed down, returning the smile with one of his own.

“But you’re not even a scout, Kuroo,” another voice interjected.

Kenma was a little surprised, since he hadn’t even noticed the other guy standing next to the raven, although he emitted a huge emotional energy. The only reason that happened was definitely that Kenma was extremely good at ignoring other people’s emotion by now, Kenma told himself. Yep, definitely the only reason. Not because he was in anyway distracted.

With an annoyed sigh Kuroo pushed the other guy aside. “Go ahead, Bokuto. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“But Kuroo,” the apparent friend – with weird white-greyish hair, Kenma might add – started to whine, “this is the guy you told me about, isn’t it? I also want to get to know him.”

Kuroo’s embarrassment told Kenma that it was the truth. The raven turned to his friend. “Bokuto, if you don’t go away immediately I tell Akaashi everything you told me two nights ago.”

Pure shock was on Bokuto’s face. “You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, I would. And you know that.”

It took a moment before the white-haired started to pout – like a small boy would – and went away without another word or even gaze towards them. Kuroo was instantly relieved, although he also seemed fond of the other guy.

“So, you’ve talked about me?” Kenma asked, a teasing tone in his voice.

The raven smiled at him. “I’ve only told him how cute you look in your uniform,” he said, trying to pretend to be cool, but Kenma could feel the truth. Could feel the still present embarrassment and nervousness.

Kenma, feeling confident due to Kuroo’s reaction to simply finding him, smiled at the raven, tilting his head to the side. “Only in my uniform?” And yes, Kenma _was_  fighting the blush, which threatened to spread on his whole face again.

He wasn’t used to being this straightforward. On the contrary, he was used to hiding behind his bangs, trying to gain as little attention as possible. But maybe it was because he already had the raven’s attention, and not too little of it.

For a moment Kuroo was speechless, but the excitement quickly took over again. He hummed, looking up and down his body for a moment, and Kenma basked in the fact that Kuroo indeed thought of him as cute. The raven smiled again, looking him into the eyes. “Nope, I definitely like how you look right now, too.”

Now Kenma definitely blushed, and tried to hide his eyes behind his bangs. Although he had basically asked Kuroo himself it was still embarrassing to hear someone say it this directly.

“Listen, I sadly don’t have much time,” Kuroo quickly said, apparently ignoring Kenma’s blush – although Kenma could feel how happy that made him. “Do you want to go out sometime? Coffee? Dinner?”

“I-” Kenma nearly agreed instinctively, before his head interjected. It indeed seemed that Kuroo was different – but he wasn’t the first. “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

Immediately a wave of shock came from Kuroo, quickly followed by disappointment. “Why not? Do you have a boyfriend?” He hesitated. “Or a girlfriend?”

“No! No, that’s not it.” Kenma quickly shook his head. The sadness shook his own heart, making himself feel hurt and guilty. “It’s complicated, I’m sorry.”

“Hm.” For another moment Kuroo still was disappointed, but a small smile showed in the next moment. “I’ll promise to make it a very easy dinner. Anyway I’ll have to go now, but I’ll see you soon, so maybe you’d like to think about it once more.”

Before Kenma could respond – not that he knew what he would say if he had the chance – the raven had already disappeared in the mass of other people around them.

\---

“Why did you disappear earlier?” Kenma asked accusingly instead of a greeting.

Shouyou – and Kageyama – looked up from the TV and to the blond, who had just entered their shared living room – well, Shouyou’s and Kenma’s shared living room, but Kageyama was there as often as possible, so Kenma sometimes had the expression that all three of them lived together. Anyway, Kenma was clearly displeased as he came home that evening.

The incident with Kuroo still replayed in his head again and again, and he really angry at himself by now. Not for declining the raven’s offer – he still believed that his decision had been right –, but for feeling sad and guilty about that. In that moment he had blamed it on being influenced by Kuroo’s feelings, but even now, several hours later, it still hadn’t stopped. And Kenma was pissed about himself, pissed about feeling so much without direct influence.

Shouyou blinked at him unimpressed, a small smile on his lips. “Good evening to you, too, Kenma.”

“Good evening, my ass,” the blonde grumbled angrily. “Why did you do that?”

“I didn’t want to disturb you two,” Shouyou explained, completely unimpressed by his tone, “since you are so interested in each other.”

Kenma frowned. “We’re not ‘interested in each other’. Well, he is interested, but I’m not.”

“And I’m really sad right now,” the ginger retorted sarcastically, his eyes wandering to the movie again.

Of course this wasn’t true, Kenma could feel the absolute contentment coming from the two guys on the couch, and Kenma immediately understood what Shouyou meant. It was no use lying to him about a relationship. It wasn’t that they couldn’t speak openly about their abilities in front of Kageyama, since Shouyou had explained everything to the raven before they got together, but they were simply used to not addressing it directly.

So Kenma didn’t try to discuss this further, and turned around to disappear into his room. He didn’t want to think about this anymore, so he probably should simply bury himself in one of his screens. But there still was one thing he was curious about.

“Shouyou,” Kenma said, as he stopped in the door and turned to the couch once again. When the ginger hummed and looked at him, he continued, “How did it look to you?”

Shouyou thought for a few seconds, before he answered, “Like I said, you are really interested in each other. Interested in a relationship, that is. And in my opinion you should give him a chance. He is pretty hot after all.” He added the last sentences with a huge grin, making Kenma sigh.

“What do you mean?” Kageyama asked in that moment, a scowl on his face.

Shouyou patted on his thigh. “I mean that he was tall and had black hair, just my type. So don’t worry.”

Strangely this was enough to satisfy the raven, and Kenma rolled his eyes, wanting to go already.

But before he could go Shouyou held him back once more. “I take your mood that today didn’t go well?”

Kenma thought a moment, before slowly answering, “He asked me out.”

“Oh, that’s good.”

“But I refused.”

Shouyou’s face, which had lightened up at Kenma’s first comment, quickly showed a frown. “Why did you do that?”

Kenma didn’t plan to answer this, so he simply turned around again. He didn’t leave, though.

“Not every guy is like that, you know? You shouldn’t let him control your life like this.”

With a sigh Kenma finally turned around and left the room. He really didn’t want to think about this anymore.

\---

But of course he still thought about it three weeks later, if Kenma wanted or not.

It wasn’t even that Kuroo reminded him of it, although he had been at his workplace a few times. But he had never mentioned it again, had still casually flirted with him. Kenma was really glad about that, he wouldn’t know what he’d do if Kuroo had treated him differently after he had been rejected. He was also glad to feel that the raven wasn’t disappointed or sad anymore, instead he was happy to see him every time, and obviously still hopeful.

Kenma also had to admit to himself that he often found himself watching Kuroo, when the raven simply sat there, drinking his cappuccino and reading a book. To Kenma’s defense Kuroo looked really good with glasses on and a book his hands, his aura calm and contently. And Kenma also had to admit something else: he liked Kuroo’s presence. A lot.

So of course his mind didn’t shut up for weeks, constantly bugging him with thoughts of “What if” and “Why not”. He didn’t have answers to that.

A deep sigh left Kenma’s lips – definitely not the first one this day – and he tried to concentrate on his game again. This was something, which annoyed him immensely – he couldn’t even completely concentrate on his games, which lead him to dying way more often than he normally would.

He cursed under his breath as he died again.

“Shouldn’t you be aiming for his tail, instead of his head?” a smooth voice next to him asked.

Shocked Kenma quickly looked up to meet the clear gaze of caramel-colored eyes. He had been so invested in his game – and in his thoughts – that he hadn’t even noticed that someone had sat down next to him. A short glance around showed Kenma that there weren’t much other people on the bus he was taking on his way home, so it was definitely on purpose that the raven sat directly next to him.

“To my defense, it _really_ is a coincidence that I’m here,” Kuroo quickly explained, holding his hands up defendingly. “Well, not that I’m exactly _here,_ sitting on this spot, but that I’m in this bus.”

Kenma tilted his head to the side. “You weren’t at the universities bus stop.”

“No, I just got on, I was at work. I’m working at the small record shop near the park. It honestly is a coincidence.” He smiled. “And I’m actually pretty happy about that.”

Not that he had to tell Kenma, because he could feel the happiness he usually felt from Kuroo. He even blushed a little at how excited the raven was, and quickly averted his gaze to look back at his screen. “The head is shining red, which normally means ‘Please hit me, I’m the weak spot’. So why should I attack the tail instead?”

Kuroo smiled at his conversationally tone. “He normally holds his tail up in the air,” he started to explain his train of thoughts, “but every time you manage to knock him down it lies conveniently on the floor, in a perfect position to chop it off. Try it, I’m certain it works.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Kenma simply answered, moving the curser over the menu, to start a new try.

But Kuroo lay his hand above Kenma’s to stop him, and when the blond looked up again he saw Kuroo smirk. “If you try it and it works, will you go on a date with me?”

Kenma definitely didn’t register that this was the first time they had skin-to-skin contact, and that Kuroo’s hand was warm and large on his own. No, he definitely didn’t.

He frowned. “It won’t work.”

“Then you have no reason to refuse this little bet.”

The calmness and confidence coming of the raven was a little confusing for Kenma, but it was the excitement and the fact, that he really seemed to look forward to it, which brought the blond to wordlessly nod. Kuroo let go, so that he could try anew, and Kenma nearly missed the warmth. Nearly.

A few minutes later Kenma stared unbelievingly at the tail he had just chopped off, and at the dead monster. The happiness Kuroo was emitting was so strong that it influenced Kenma too, who was happy himself. Although maybe a part from it came from himself.

“Would tomorrow evening be ok?” Kuroo asked straightforwardly.

Kenma quickly forced himself to think about it, and not let the excitement take over his brain, as they made plans to meet up in the next evening.

\---

It was rare that Kenma was feeling so much that he had to concentrate to even feel other people. While he was standing in front of his university’s canteen he tried to notice Kuroo’s special emotional pattern. Every person felt different, so if Kenma got used to a special pattern he could pick it up between multiple people. And he had had enough time to get used to Kuroo’s feelings.

But he was so excited and so nervous that he couldn’t concentrate enough, and Kuroo was suddenly standing next to him.

“Hey, Kenma,” Kuroo greeted, happiness sounding in his voice and emitting from his utter core.

Kenma jumped a little, honestly surprised that he came from the direction he hadn’t expected. But when he saw the raven standing next to him, he couldn’t help but smile a little. “Hi.”

With a jerk of his head the raven pointed in the direction of a park, so they both started walking there. “I’m really glad you came.”

“Did you think I’d stand up on you?” Kenma asked teasingly.

“No, you’re not the kind of person to do that. If you didn’t want to meet me you would’ve told me so directly.”

Another smile spread on Kenma’s lips. Then he looked up to observe his surroundings. “Why are you leading me into a park in the middle of the night? Should I be worried that you tear me into a bush and rip my clothes off?” Although 8 PM wasn’t exactly the middle of the night, but a little dramatic has never harmed anyone.

A spark of excitement ran through Kuroo, immediately catching Kenma’s attention. A spark of lust.

But the raven simply smile at him, trying to laugh it off, and with everyone else it would’ve probably worked, but of course it was never that easy with Kenma. Would never be that easy.

“No, no, don’t worry,” Kuroo quickly reassured him. “I’ve just prepared something.”

And that something apparently made him extremely nervous, which Kenma in fact found kind of endearing.

It also didn’t take long for him to see what Kuroo had prepared, as they took a turn and suddenly stood next to a glass field, where a picnic blanket was laying. Surprised he looked up to Kuroo. “A picnic?” he asked with an amused smirk. “Cheesy.”

Another wave of nervousness came from Kuroo at Kenma’s teasing remark. “Hey, you could at least call it romantic. But yeah, I thought you would prefer a place without a lot of people around.”

That surprised Kenma again. He’d never thought that the raven was so attentive and considerate, but it was an enormously pleasant surprise, and against his will a small blush spread on his cheeks. Like always he tried to hide his eyes behind his bangs, and Kuroo seemed to notice that, since he was happy again.

He smiled down at him. “Let’s sit down for now.”

Kenma followed the raven over to the blanket and sat down. “Do you have food in there?” he asked, pointing at a woven basket.

“Yep, made it myself.” From the basket Kuroo fetched two pizza cartons, a bottle of wine and two plastic cups.

Of course Kenma couldn’t help but start laughing. “You call that self-made?”

For a moment the raven seemed to be confused, but as he looked down into his hands he started to understand, and laughed himself. “I know how this looks like, but I _really_ made this myself. Scout’s honor.”

“Your friend already revealed that you’re not a scout,” Kenma teased again, taking one of the. He actually had suspected that it would be the other way around, since Kuroo teased him nearly relentlessly when he visited him at the café.

When Kenma opened the carton a nice, meaty smell hit his nostrils. He hadn’t been hungry before, but now he could practically feel his stomach growl in anticipation.

“And you’ve just signed Bokuto’s death sentences,” Kuroo commented dryly, as he started to open the wine bottle. Before he filled Kenma’s cup he asked if he would even drink.

When Kenma took the cup with a thanks and sniffed at it he at least could recognize that it was a red wine. But he honestly didn’t know anything else about wine. “Aren’t we missing some candlelight to make it a _romantic_ dinner?”

“I just thought that a burning park wouldn’t help setting the right mood,” Kuroo casually commented, filling his own cup. “And we have this beautiful streetlamp to illuminate everything.”

Kenma looked up to aforesaid lamp, slightly chuckling. “Yeah, absolutely beautiful.”

“Only the best for you.”

His treacherous cheeks were of course heating up again, but there was still a small smile on his lips. To distract Kuroo – and himself as well – Kenma switched his attention to the pizza again. “So what did you put on this?”

“Mincemeat,” Kuroo said, as if it was the most natural thing on the word.

“Mincemeat?” Kenma repeated unbelievingly. “I’ve never seen mincemeat on a pizza.”

“I wanted to try something special, and there’s no good pizza without some meat. But I have to admit that I didn’t do _everything_ by myself.”

“Oh? Spill all the dirty secrets, I’m listening.”

Kuroo laughed at that. “That would probably take a pretty long time, so no. But I can tell you that a friend of mine – or rather his family – has an Italian restaurant, so he helped me out with the dough. And the cartons. Now that I think about it, Makki isn’t even Italian, so why do they have an Italian restaurant?” he added, acting as if he was deep in thought, making Kenma laugh a little.

“Then I’ll better try it to judge what’s better, the dough or what’s on top of it,” Kenma remarked with a smirk.

“Definitely the topping. But first,” Kuroo held his cup to Kenma, “let’s drink on an absolutely romantic first date.”

Kenma couldn’t help but return the smile he was bestowed with, basking in the glowing happiness Kuroo emitted, and honestly he was feeling the same. Maybe a bit more nervous. They touched their cups and Kenma took a sip of the wine.

“’First date’ is implying that there are going to be more,” Kenma commented, after sitting the cup down.

The raven nodded confidently, although Kenma could feel the slight nervousness. “I already have twenty-one other plans, so I hope you’ll stick with me for a while.”

“Only twenty-one?” Kenma asked, while trying to take one slice of the pizza out. He noticed with surprise that it was still warm.

“Even my imagination has its limits.”

The answer Kenma had to that was quickly forgotten as he took one bite of the pizza. “This is really good! But I’m curious, what would you have done, if I were a vegetarian?”

Kuroo immediately got happier at the praise, but he didn’t let anything show on his face. He shrugged. “You were eating meatballs, when we met in the canteen.”

“You remembered?” Kenma asked, clearly surprised.

A snort. “Of course. I also remember that you recommended apple pie to me, when I asked you once at the café. So you can guess what’s for dessert.”

“Pizza, apple pie and a romantic street lamp? This is definitely the best date ever.”

Unfazed by the teasing tone Kuroo grinned at him. “I’m doing my best.”

For a few moments they simply ate their pizza, before the raven started to talk again. “So I know that you’re at the same university I am, but what are you studying?”

Kenma laughed a little. “You’re going straight for the questions? No small talk or forced compliments, or weird flirting?”

“First, my flirting is never weird,” – Kenma hummed, but didn’t comment on it – “and second, I can do all that when I’m at the café again. But right now I’m just curious who the guy behind the blushing mask is.”

“I’m not blushing that often,” Kenma complained with a huff and – ironically – blushed.

Kuroo simply grinned. “But often in my presence. Don’t worry, it’s cute.”

Again the blonde huffed, but didn’t try to defend himself any longer, since a pleasant warmth spread through his chest. The nice thing about all this was, Kuroo meant every word he said. He wasn’t like everyone else, who either saw him as cute and that was everything, or weird and boring, not bothering to get to know him any better. No, Kuroo was genuinely curious and definitely enjoyed his presence.

And Kenma definitely liked this a lot.

\---

It probably wasn’t the best idea to take Kuroo home on their first date, but Kenma simply didn’t have it in him to complain, as he was pressed against his room’s door, kissed as if Kuroo never wanted to breathe again.

It all had started on the picnic blanket, with small, innocent kisses, which somehow escalated into a steamy make-out session, and since Kenma wasn’t the biggest fan of doing something like that outside they’d quickly went to his apartment. They’d already exchanged their “normally I don’t do this” and “maybe we should wait a little”, but Kenma had made clear that he wanted this, and he was feeling how much the raven wanted it too. And that was enough for him.

So he simply let Kuroo ravish his mouth, while he tried to return the kiss just as hungrily, his hands buried in black hair. His legs were tightly wrapped around Kuroo’s waist, who held him up at his butt, his hard body pressed against Kenma. They were already grinding their erections together, and Kenma cursed every layer of clothes between them.

When Kuroo broke the kiss he let his head fall on Kenma’s shoulder, heavily breathing. “I still don’t think that this is a good idea,” he muttered into the dark.

With a frown Kenma took the raven’s cheeks into his hands and move his head, so that their eyes could meet. “Kuroo, I know that you like me,” he slowly started, stating the truth he had learned during the past few hours, “and I like you, too. And since this is mutual, I just really want you to fuck me right now.”

Kuroo groaned. “How come you blush like a virgin when I’m innocently flirting with you, and then you suddenly talk dirty, like it’s your second nature?”

“Well, I have to convince you somehow,” Kenma answered with a smirk.

“You’re doing a pretty good job.”

In the next moment their lips were pressed together again, Kuroo’s tongue aggressively attacking the inside of Kenma’s mouth, and the blonde couldn’t help but moan at the feeling. On top of his own lust he could feel the raven’s arousal, and the combination of both of it was making his head dizzy, swimming in pure pleasure.

He could feel the pressure on his back disappear, when Kuroo started walking over to his bed, placing both of them on top of it. The casual display of strength was a huge turn on, and if Kenma hadn’t been hard already he would be right now.

To Kenma’s displeasure Kuroo broke their kiss again to look down on him, and he nearly groaned. But he could feel the raven’s uncertainty, so he kept quiet.

“I just want you to know that I honestly like you, and it’s more than this.” Kuroo stressed his words with a roll of his hips, and Kenma moaned when he could feel the hard length pressing against thigh. “I really don’t want to fuck this up, Kenma.”

“You’re not,” Kenma said, reassuringly caressing his face again. “And I really like you, too. Here, feel for yourself.” With one hand he grabbed Kuroo’s to guide it to where his heart was harshly beating against his hips.

Wordlessly Kuroo kept his hand there for a few seconds, before his insecurities disappeared and a smirk found its way on his face. “This could also come because I’m such an amazing kisser.”

Kenma returned the smile. “I can’t argue with that.”

Inwardly he rejoiced as they were kissing again, and Kuroo finally started to undress him.

\---

It was the middle of the night when Kuroo was stirring next to him in the bed, slowly sitting up. “Kenma?” he quietly asked into the darkness. “Kenma, what’s wrong?”

When Kenma, who was sitting on the edge of the mattress, starring outside the window, didn’t answer immediately, there was fear swelling up in Kuroo, next to a little bit of fear.

The raven groaned. “Please don’t tell me that you regret it already.”

Quickly Kenma turned around, vehemently shaking his head. The last thing he’d wanted was making Kuroo feel this way. “No, that’s not it,” he hastily explained. “The sex was good, amazing even, and I don’t regret one second of it. And I also really, really like you, that’s not the problem. It’s just… you don’t even know me and I practically forced myself onto you.” His eyes searched for Kuroo’s in the dark, trying to convey as much of his feelings as possible with them, more than he ever had.

Kuroo snorted. “You were definitely not forcing me to do anything. And I did ask you quite a few questions earlier, so-“

“No, that’s not what I mean,” Kenma interrupted. “I don’t want to lie to you, Kuroo, but I’m not normal and you will think that I’m weird, so…”

Kenma had already had enough time to beat himself up about his stupid decisions, to simply jump into this without thinking it through. Like he said, he didn’t want to lie to Kuroo, but he also couldn’t really explain it. All the reasons why he had hesitated the first time Kuroo had asked him out came back to him, and he was absolutely stupid to have ignored them in the first place. But he had been so intoxicated, had felt so good in Kuroo’s happiness, in his affection, had greedily wanted more of it.

With every word Kenma said Kuroo grew more confused, and the worry didn’t exactly lessen either. “Then don’t lie to me, Kenma,” he tried to reassure the blonde. “Just talk to me, I won’t think you’re weird.” He softly caressed his cheek with one hand. “I already know you’re special, that’s why I wanted to get to know you in the first place.”

At Kuroo’s gentle words Kenma grew incredibly sad, and he couldn’t help but blurt out, “I have special powers.”

“Powers?” the raven repeated with a frown.

Kenma hesitated for a short moment, gnawing on his lower lip. But he decided to continue. “I’m an empath. I can sense other people’s feelings.”

For several moments Kuroo just looked at him wordlessly, obviously thinking about what Kenma just had said. When he was starting to feel hurt and angry the blonde started to panic.

“No! Please don’t think that I said this to break up with you, or something,” he quickly said, grabbing Kuroo’s biceps to keep him in place. “That’s not it, I really want to be together with you, and I’d never want to hurt you. So please, don’t think that.”

Kuroo’s feelings didn’t really vanish, but they lessened a little, confusion taking its place again. “Explain,” he simply demanded.

“Since my birth I could feel other people’s emotions,” Kenma hastily said. “I can feel that you’re really confused right now, hurt and angry. But you’re also still worried about me. Earlier in the park I could feel that you were nervous, when I teased you about the picnic. And you were really happy, when I complimented your pizza, although you tried to hide all of this. And back then, when we met at the canteen, I could feel how excited you were. I can feel how happy you are every time you see me. Or how annoyed when a girl hits on you in the café.” He allowed himself to smile a little. “I’m really happy to feel that you still like me, because I like you, too. And you’re slowly starting to believe me.”

“I’m still really confused,” Kuroo slowly said. “But I guess I don’t have to say that, because you’re feeling it?” Kenma nodded. “So, how does this work? Do you have to concentrate on a person to feel it?”

“It’s like having another sense. I can feel every emotion of every person in a certain distance to me. For example I can feel that Shouyou, my flat mate, is really aroused right now, which is kind of gross. And when I’m writing a test it’s really unnerving to feel all the nervousness.” Kenma took a deep breath before he continued. “And sometimes when someone’s emotions are really strong they influence me, too. Like your happiness earlier on our date. I can also proof it to you, when you want.”

Kuroo got confused again. “How would you do that? All your… observations could just be really good guesses from watching my reactions.”

Kenma flinched a little on the spot. “There is one more thing I can do.” He stretched his hand out. “I can make people feel my own emotions.”

The raven was warily eyeing his hand, and Kenma really couldn’t blame him for his hesitation. His mom had told him, that he could probably train his ability to use it without having to touch people or to make people feel anything Kenma wanted them to. But he had never felt like training his ability. The only training he had ever had was to learn how to suppress his abilities as good as possible.

Only slowly did Kuroo take his hand, and when he did Kenma took a deep breath, before letting all of his emotions flow into Kuroo.

As if getting a shock the raven quickly drew his hand away, staring at him with wide eyes. “This were really your feelings?” he nearly whispered, unbelieve clear in his voice.

Kenma nodded slowly.

“Can you do it again?” Kuroo asked then, reaching for his hand once more.

The blonde gladly complied, letting his emotion flow out freely again. He could see Kuroo’s eyes widening, and then immediately narrowing.

“Why are you so scared?”

When Kenma let go of his hand there was nearly no trace of the earlier doubt left, only pure worry. Kenma frowned. “I don’t want you to leave me.”

“I won’t,” Kuroo quickly reassured him, taking both of his hands now. “But that’s not all, is it?”

The blonde’s frown only deepened, and he averted his eyes, chewing on his bottom lip. Of course Kenma didn’t really want to speak about this, but Kuroo deserved the truth after accepting all the weird things he had said so easily.

So he decided to explain everything. “You’re not the first guy I’ve told this,” he said, and could immediately feel Kuroo’s displeasure at this. But the raven didn’t interrupt him, only soothing massaging his hands, with his thumbs. “But I’ve waited longer with him. Way longer. And when I’ve told him he said that I used his trust and betrayed him, because I could always sense what he was feeling, and he said that I used it against him. That I purposely manipulated him. He told me that I am a monster, and I know that it’s not true, but it hurt.”

Before Kenma could even react to it he was pulled against a strong chest, warm arms tightly wrapped around him. And although Kuroo was incredibly angry Kenma felt safe, because he knew that the anger was not directed at him. He continued speaking, “In the end he said that I made him fall in love with me like this. He said that I should make it up to him, and then… He used force to make me do what he wanted, and even though it was only once, I…” His voice trailed off, unable to continue speaking. He didn’t even know what he _wanted_ to say.

“You should better never tell me his name, or I kill this guy,” Kuroo hissed, his insides practically boiling. But he still continued to gently stroke Kenma’s head, comforting him despite the inner turmoil he was fighting. “I will never hurt you like this, Kenma.”

“I know, but what if I will hurt you?”

The raven frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You can never lie to me,” Kenma explained after taking a deep breath, but Kuroo just shrugged. Kenma sat up a little to look Kuroo directly into the eyes, before he continued. “You can’t hide anything from me.” Another shrug. “I will fell every time you’re jealous. Or guilty. Or-”

He couldn’t voice his next argument as Kuroo simply pulled him into another passionate kiss. “I’m still confused,” Kuroo admitted breathlessly after they parted, “and I’m still not sure I believe everything you said. I want to believe you, though. And I’m sure we’ll make this work somehow, I’ll get used to everything, and we’ll find compromises. Like, for example you have to show me every evening just how much you like me,” he suggested with a bright grin. Then his expression turned serious again. “You can feel when I’m lying, right? So I can promise you now that I will never do anything to purposely hurt you, Kenma.”

And Kenma nearly started to cry as he could feel the sincerity behind Kuroo’s words, all the affection. All the love. This time it was him who leant forward to seal their mouths together, desperately clinging to the raven’s lips and showing him just how happy and relieved he was in that moment, how much he loved Kuroo.

“Hey, Kenma,” Kuroo said, a teasing tone in his voice.

Kenma confusedly drew his eyebrows together at the strange mix of emotions the raven was feeling, curiosity mixed with… lust?

Purposely lowering his voice to a husky whisper, Kuroo leant closer to Kenma again, whispering against his ear, “Can you do that emotion sharing during sex do?”

“What? Why?”

“Wouldn’t it be incredibly hot when I feel your arousal, while you feel my arousal? And then it would combine and be even better than it already was?”

And Kenma seriously couldn’t hold the happy laughter back, which bubbled up in his chest, as he pressed Kuroo into the mattress, sharing all his emotions with him.

**Author's Note:**

> I imagine Shouyou stumbling over them in the kitchen the next morning, snorting and saying, "Well that escalated quickly" and simply going to bed again :3


End file.
